August 30, 2008

Monster Making How-To

This is a great project to do with kids or by yourself. Please use your own discretion for how much you allow a child to do. But from my experience, they love to make something come alive from choosing fabrics and a shape to decorating and naming.

With a fabric pencil, draw the shape on the wrong side of the fabric however large you wish it to be when finished.

Step 3

Place the two piece of fabric together or fold one piece of fabric (right side in). Pin the two pieces together to keep them from moving as you cut.Cut out the monster shape leaving approximately 1/4 inch seam allowance around the drawing. Don't worry about being perfect, monsters like to be a little messy.

Step 4

Decorate the right sides of the monster, don't forget to add decorations to the back as well.

Use whatever you have at home. Go on a treasure hunt to find great things to adorn the monster. You are only limited to your imagination

For young kids, gluing and drawing (with permanent markers) is easiest. For older kids they can cut out shapes and scraps and sew pieces on to the monster.

If you use paint or glue, it's best to let it dry completely before moving on to the next step. Alternately, you can wait to decorate until after Step 8 so you won't have to wait for the glue to dry before finishing the monster.

Step 5

Pin the two pieces of monster shape together, right side in.

Sew along the line you drew in step two, leaving a straight section open (we'll use that to turn the monster right side out). It's best to use knots or double stitch the section right around the opening.

Step 6

Cut small snips on the curves, snip off corners, and cut darts at sharp indents.Be sure to cut only 2/3 of the way into the seam allowance and DO NOT cut the seam. This is easiest if your scissors are very sharp. On very rounded seams, the more snips you make, the more curvy the seam will be when turned right side out.

Turn your monster right side out through the opening. A pencil or chopstick is an excellent tool for making sure all the appendages and curves fill out.

Step 7

Using polyester fiberfill, stuff the monster. Use small amounts and start by filling in the furthest reaches and appendages first before filling the main body cavity. Again use the pencil or chopstick for this.

A greener alternative is to use fabric scraps cut up small instead of fiber fill. For tight places, make sure the scraps are very small.

As you fill the monster, squeeze the monster to make sure you're not over-filling or under filling the monster.

Step 8

Tuck in the seam allowance in the opening and use a slip stitch to close the hole.